HOW TO START YOUR MUSIC CAREER : BEGINNERS GUIDE

Download your free 20 Day Single Release Plan here (2026 Update): start.dk-mba.com/singlereleaseplan

Every musician dreams of a long successful music career but where do you start? The world is full of talented musicians so how can you cut through the noise and make music your livelihood and not just your passion? Here are 10 ways to start building your career as a musician and jump the competition.

If you haven’t seen me before, my name is Damian Keyes. I’ve spent 20+ years working across the music industry as a musician, entrepreneur and growth strategist.

A bit about my journey…

16: Picked up a bass for the first time and fell in love with music.
18: Signed to a major record label (and dropped 6 months later. I always said I’d do anything, but no one told me what to do. That sparked my obsession with understanding how artists actually succeed).
23: Founded BIMM music university, which became one of the largest music universities in the world.
20s: Scaled BIMM to 4,000 students per year across multiple countries, alongside working as a professional bass player performing with Eric Clapton, Alanis Morissette and Billy Cobham among others.
30: Sold BIMM and became financially free.
30s: Realised life is about the journey and building, not retiring. Built multiple music businesses including a management company and live agency.
40s: Sold both businesses and took what I’d learned working with artists offline and applied it online, helping artists grow using digital strategy before it became common.
43: Founded DK-MBA, now one of the largest online music business academies with over 40,000 students across 83+ countries.
45: Founded DK Artists, where we work directly with independent and label artists building careers, audiences and releases.

Today: We work with both independent and label artists and build the systems and infrastructure that help artists grow streams, audiences and long term careers.

You’re just one song away from changing your life.

This channel exists to share the strategies we see working right now.

I hope this brings you value and guides you in an industry that definitely isn’t easy and changes daily.

To your success,

Damian

PS, if you want to work together further:
Find out more about my Academy and Release System: dk-mba.com
Find out more about working with me and my team directly: dk-artists.com